Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper jumped into the state’s open Senate race Monday, boosting Democrats’ hopes and setting up a likely contest with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in one of the nation’s most competitive battlegrounds. “I have thought on it and prayed about it, and I have decided: I am running to be the next U.S. Senator from North Carolina,’’ Cooper posted on social media. Democrats had sought to recruit Cooper even before Republican Sen. Thom Tillis announced late last month that he wouldn’t seek reelection. Tillis was facing intense backlash over his opposition to Republicans’ massive tax and spending legislation, with President Donald Trump threatening to support a primary opponent against him. Trump has already publicly endorsed Whatley, who is expected to formally enter the race in the coming days. Lara Trump, a North Carolina native and the president’s daughter-in-law, took herself out of contention by declaring last week that she wouldn’t seek the seat. Democratic leaders in the Senate cheered Cooper’s decision to run. “Governor Cooper is a formidable candidate who will flip North Carolina’s Senate seat, and his announcement is the latest indication that the Republicans’ Senate majority is at risk in 2026,’’ Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement. Republicans, meanwhile, sought to portray Cooper as an inept ultra-liberal who “botched [the] response to Hurricane Helene” and embraced a radical agenda. “So while Washington Democrats toast themselves for convincing a far-left career politician to seek another taxpayer job, we’ll be reminding North Carolina voters about the families Radical Roy Cooper devastated,’’ Alex Latcham, executive director the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC backing Senate Republicans, said in a statement. SLF is launching a six-figure digital ad campaign targeting Cooper, Punchbowl News reported. Cooper enters a Democratic primary that already included former Rep. Wiley Nickel, who launched a bid in the spring. But on Friday, with Cooper’s announcement looming, Semafor reported that Nickel plans to pivot to run for district attorney in Wake County. Cooper, who left the governor’s office in January after serving two terms, typically earned job approval ratings close to or above 50 percent in a state where Republicans control both chambers of the legislature and that Trump won three times. North Carolina hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since Kay Hagan won office in 2008. (She lost reelection to Tillis in 2014.) Democrats note that Cooper has never lost an election, but the party has been disappointed by other strong Senate recruits who came close but ultimately fell short in recent contests in North Carolina. Senate Republicans head into the 2026 midterm elections holding 53 seats. Just three races — North Carolina and the Democratic-held seats in Georgia and Michigan — are currently rated as Toss-ups by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. Democrats face a challenging map and even if the party wins the three Toss-up races, it would only result in a net gain of one seat and still leave Republicans in charge. Democrats, meanwhile, are hoping another governor – Janet Mills of Maine – makes a run for Senate against Republican Susan Collins. Unlike North Carolina, Maine is a blue-leaning state that Kamala Harris won last year, but Mills, who is term-limited, said earlier this year she had “no plans” to run for higher office in 2026. A political mainstay Cooper has had a long career in electoral politics in North Carolina that began in the mid-1980s. He served in both the state House and state Senate, rising to become Senate majority leader before winning the first of four terms as state attorney general in 2000. He was elected governor in 2016, narrowly unseating Republican incumbent Pat McCrory. Cooper’s launch video leaned heavily on a populist economic message calibrated to appeal to the middle- and working-class voters who have left the Democratic Party in recent years. “It wasn't always this hard, because being in the middle class meant something. You could afford a home, your kids went to good schools, your job paid enough to cover the basics, and most summers, you could get away for a few days,’’ he said. “For the most part, life was pretty good.” Cooper also invoked his biography as the son of a small-town lawyer and farmer who, as North Carolina attorney general, “took on scammers, big banks and drug companies,” and steered clear of cultural issues, such as LGBTQ rights. Cooper rose to national prominence during his 2016 race against McCrory, which followed the GOP-controlled legislature’s passage of a law that required transgender people to use public restrooms that corresponded to the sex on their birth certificate. Following his election as governor, Cooper and Republican legislative leaders hammered out a compromise in the face of pressure from the NCAA, the NBA and other groups, who threatened to boycott the state if the law were allowed to remain on the books. Last cycle, Republicans made opposition to transgender rights a key part of their campaign strategy in contests up and down the ballot. If the immediate reaction to Cooper’s announcement is any indication, they plan to use a similar playbook against him in 2026. “Roy Cooper supports gender mutilation surgeries for kids,’’ Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber, posted on X. “He supported men using women's bathrooms. He wants men to play in women's sports. He should run for Senate in California — not North Carolina.” This report has been updated to accurately reflect the net seat gain for Senate Democrats were they to win all three races currently rated Toss-ups by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. It has also been updated to reflect the correct spelling of RNC Chair Michael Whatley's last name.
